Editorials
Monday, November 30, 1998

China’s flood damage
reports may be hyped

FLOODS and other natural disasters occur in China as they do elsewhere. But there are disturbing indications that the Beijing government's reports of their extent may be exaggerated to serve other purposes.

Bruce Gilley, a veteran of China news coverage, questions the official report that 3,700 people drowned and $2 billion in damages resulted from last summer's flooding, said to be China's worst in 40 years. He notes that no reliable corroboration of those figures is available, since foreign reporters were banned from traveling to most of the affected areas by the government of President Jiang Zemin. Gilley adds that an official from Liaoning told him that the province, where 2.3 million people were said to have been displaced by floods, was "fine" with "no problems."

Inflated disaster figures can attract international aid. China received $10 million in immediate relief for flood victims and will get an additional $240 million from the World Food Program and the United Nations to restore agricultural production and rebuild dikes.

The United Nations gave its annual disaster prevention award to China's civil affairs minister as a tribute to the work of Chinese authorities in moderating the effects of the floods. However, the United Nations has no presence in China except for an office in Beijing. Its information came mainly from the official Chinese media.

Such awards, Gilley writes, bolster China's argument that "it has no time for the Western luxuries of civil and political rights because the government is too busy trying to feed and clothe (and dry) its population." Another purpose of hyping the disaster reports could have been to blunt opposition to the Three Gorges Dam being built along the Yangtze River, which is supposed to control flooding.

There is no doubt that the recent hurricane damage in Central America was real and devastating. The international news media had full access to the stricken areas and had ample opportunity to assess damage claims.

That isn't the case in China. News coverage of sensitive subjects is still strictly controlled and the flow of information is regarded mainly as a propaganda tool. While that condition persists, Beijing's reports on floods and other disasters should be viewed skeptically.

Obviously, it can work the other way as well. North Korea has been trying to suppress reports of its famine because it does not want to admit that its Communist system is collapsing.

Ruling on racial slur

THE University of Hawaii ought to appeal a Circuit Court ruling upholding a $30,000 judgment over a racial epithet uttered by Robert Wallace, son of the UH basketball coach and student manager of the team.

Judge Bambi Weil ruled that Wallace was acting as an agent of the university when he used the slur at a basketball game in 1995 in responding to a fan who had been shouting insults at Wallace's father. She upheld the judgment made previously by the state Civil Rights Commission.

However, Wallace's attorney, Jeffrey Portnoy, noted that the judge ruled Wallace did not intentionally discriminate against the fan and did not intend to harm him.

Portnoy said he was pleased that the judge said Wallace was not acting as an employee of the university in his capacity as student manager. To have ruled otherwise would have opened the door to actions against players and others on scholarship, Portnoy said. He used the example of a player throwing a punch against an opponent. "What happens if the player calls the opposing player a name?" he asked.

A judgment against the university in this example would be only a little more absurd than in the Wallace case. Fining the university $30,000 for a remark made in anger by a young man defending his father against abusive language is carrying political correctness to ridiculous lengths.

The Rainbows’ end

IT was a bitter-sweet weekend for University of Hawaii sports fans, as members of the Wahine volleyball team gave their all in Las Vegas and savored victory, while the Rainbow football team valiantly showed up at Aloha Stadium and tasted defeat -- again. While the women athletes have returned home as Western Athletic Conference champs, the gridiron squad can only wonder who will serve as coach next year as the fate of Fred vonAppen is scrutinized after a disastrous 0-12 record.

In either case, it was quite a show. At the MGM Grand Garden, seventh-ranked Hawaii and sixth-ranked Brigham Young proved they were both deserving to win the WAC volleyball crown. The Wahine bested the Cougars 15-12 and 21-19 in the first two games, before falling 13-15 and 16-18. The heavily pro-Hawaii crowd went delirious as the UH team fought back and never gave up to take the fifth and final match, 24-22.

Meanwhile, back in Honolulu, thousands of Michigan fans enjoyed an island holiday, a visiting team victory and a chance to shine on ESPN2, as the Wolverines feasted on their hosts, 48-17, before a sparse local crowd. To their credit, the Rainbows played hard and with tenacity, scoring the first three points of the football game before returning to their losing ways. Coach vonAppen is scheduled to meet with UH President Kenneth Mortimer and Athletic Director Hugh Yoshida to discuss whether he will serve out the two remaining years on his contract, or be bought out in the face of an operational deficit nearing $1 million.

Mercifully, it's the end of the season for the Rainbow Warriors, while the Wahine are still savoring their last delicious win. Best of luck to them as they look to eat up the competition in the NCAA Tournament.

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John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher

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Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor

Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors

A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor